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Marie Wallace Bayswater Park, better known locally as the Train Park, has a full-size red steam locomotive sitting in the middle of it. Not a plastic replica. Kids can climb up into the cab, touch the controls, and get as close to a real old-fashioned train as most of them ever will outside a museum.
I’d heard people talk about “the train park” in Bayswater for a while before I actually went, and I wasn’t prepared for how much train there is.
The Train Itself
It comes with its own platform and a ticket booth, so a child can spend ten minutes being station master, then swap to selling tickets, then flag down a parent for a ticket check. Climb back into the cab and they’re driver and passenger again. My kids cycled through all three roles without me suggesting a single one of them.
From the Railway to the Road
I assumed the train was the main event and the rest of the playground would be an afterthought. It isn’t. Right next to the train is a full mini road circuit, complete with intersections, zebra crossings and proper traffic signs. Bring a balance bike, scooter or small bike and you can ride straight off the “railway” and onto the “road.” Watching a pack of kids on scooters all stop dead at a red light, mid-conversation, was funnier than it had any right to be.
The Elephant Slide
There’d been a bit of a social media moment a while back about tracking down old elephant-shaped slides, and this park has one. It’s clearly an older piece, from somewhere around the early 2000s by the look of it, and the style is nothing like the newer equipment. There’s something comforting about a slide like that. In twenty years, when my kids are grown, I’d bet it’s still standing in the same spot.
The Rest of the Playground
Look up from the elephant slide and there’s a big rope net and a metal slide worth climbing for. Once you’ve made it down, there’s a wooden fort, a wobbly wooden bridge, a small tunnel, musical panels and a spinning disc waiting at the next turn. Every time I thought we’d covered everything, we’d turn a corner and find one more thing. A kid with energy to burn could genuinely spend an entire visit here without repeating anything.
Good to Know for Parents
- BBQs, picnic tables, public toilets and parking are all on site
- The park connects to the Dandenong Creek shared path, so it’s an easy spot to turn into a family bike ride
- There’s a Seniors Exercise Park too, so grandparents get more to do than just supervise
Marie Wallace Bayswater Park is at 799 Mountain Highway, Bayswater VIC 3153, right by Bayswater’s main street, so there’s coffee and food within walking distance if you need a break from the playground. For more playgrounds worth the drive, we’ve also reviewed Burradoo Park Farm in the Southern Highlands and Top Fun Kids Cafe for a rainy-day option closer to the city, or browse every playground in our Melbourne directory. If you’re planning around school terms, check the Victorian school holidays and term dates before you go.
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